Mattress Issues

[disney junky]

A few years back, DW wanted a king size bed so we bought one. And that sucker was expensive. Fast forward, this mattress hasn't held up well at all. It can't be flipped because it's got that one side special for sleeping (I'm sure there's a technical term for that), and we have both created our own little valleys. We just got back from vacation, and my lower back pain wasn't nearly as bad, sleeping in other beds, yet here I am two days later having slept in this bed, and my back aches.

All that to ask, is there anything I can do short of a new mattress? Is there some sort of pad we could put on this? If I need another mattress, what are recommendations? I definitely need something firmer than this has been.

 

[Jennasis]

Do you have a box spring? If so try switching to a platform bed instead with no box spring and use a memory foam mattress pad.

 

[nkereina]

There are many mattress toppers on the market. I have a Casper bed (bed in a box, memory foam style) and I know they have a mattress topper as well. I don't know anything about the topper, but the bed itself is on the firm side and we really like it.

The only thing I would caution is to make sure you purchase deep pocket bed sheets. If you already have a pillowtop type of mattress and add a thick pad to the top of it, standard fitted sheets will probably be too shallow.

 

[Lilsia]

Can you return it? If it already had an indent that does not bounce back, that sounds like it is defective. Call the manufacturer.

 

[ronandannette]

Can you return it? If it already had an indent that does not bounce back, that sounds like it is defective. Call the manufacturer.

I’ve got the exact same problem as the OP. The mattress we bought was very expensive, a reputable brand, and had all sorts of warranties. When the “furrows” became pronounced after about a year we tried to make a claim but of course they came up with all the “fine print” reasons why the warranty didn’t apply.

Personally, I think memory-foam is a tool of the devil!! It’s the reason the mattress can’t be flipped and it’s lack of resilience is what has resulted in the furrows. We’re chalking it up to a lesson learned and when ours gets intolerable, our next mattress will be one without a pillow-top that can be rotated, like they were in the old days.

 

[disney junky]

Do you have a box spring? If so try switching to a platform bed instead with no box spring and use a memory foam mattress pad.

Yes. We have a box spring. So this isn't an options. We bought it through one of those special mattress stores, I think they are called something else now, but I wish we had done some more research.

 

[kdonnel]

Even though it can't be flipped you were probably supposed to have rotated it.

A mattress I bought about two years ago came with instructions to rotate it every 2 weeks for the first 2 months and then to rotate it every 2 months there after. I setup calendar reminders.

 

[sam_gordon]

Agree w/@kdonnel. Rotate periodically.

 

[ronandannette]

Even though it can't be flipped you were probably supposed to have rotated it.

A mattress I bought about two years ago came with instructions to rotate it every 2 weeks for the first 2 months and then to rotate it every 2 months there after. I setup calendar reminders.

We did, and still do, rotate ours once a month. All that helps is that we’ve got matching furrows at each end.

 

[disney junky]

Even though it can't be flipped you were probably supposed to have rotated it.

A mattress I bought about two years ago came with instructions to rotate it every 2 weeks for the first 2 months and then to rotate it every 2 months there after. I setup calendar reminders.

We did the rotating thing. We also tried to do it sideways since a king is nearly the same width as length.

 

[Jennasis]

Yes. We have a box spring. So this isn't an options. We bought it through one of those special mattress stores, I think they are called something else now, but I wish we had done some more research.

Its totally an option. A box spring isn't necessary. Go buy a platform bed frame. There are inexpensive ones out there. Then you just put the mattress on the frame with no box spring.

 

[sam_gordon]

Its totally an option. A box spring isn't necessary. Go buy a platform bed frame. There are inexpensive ones out there. Then you just put the mattress on the frame with no box spring.

How does what the mattress is sitting on change whether the mattress has enough support to "bounce back"?

 

[Jennasis]

How does what the mattress is sitting on change whether the mattress has enough support to "bounce back"?

If it's sagging, the platform should help provide uniform support. It did for our guest room mattress. I wasn't expecting it too. I just figured our guests would have to deal with the Crap saggy mattress. Imagine my surprise when the new bed frame we bought with thr platform made it all good again.

 

[ronandannette]

If it's sagging, the platform should help provide uniform support. It did for our guest room mattress. I wasn't expecting it too. I just figured our guests would have to deal with the Crap saggy mattress. Imagine my surprise when the new bed frame we bought with thr platform made it all good again.

I doubt the OP's mattress is saggy. Based on how he described the problem, it's compressed memory-foam in the pillow-top that won't come back to shape.

 

[Jennasis]

I doubt the OP's mattress is saggy. Based on how he described the problem, it's compressed memory-foam in the pillow-top that won't come back to shape.

Not how I read it, but OP can clarify. It sounded, to me like they have a regular pillow top mattress. I slept on a memory foam mattress for almost 10 years and it never lost it's original shape.

 

[ronandannette]

Not how I read it, but OP can clarify. It sounded, to me like they have a regular pillow top mattress. I slept on a memory foam mattress for almost 10 years and it never lost it's original shape.

You must have had a good one!

 

[mrodgers]

Personally, I think memory-foam is a tool of the devil!! It’s the reason the mattress can’t be flipped and it’s lack of resilience is what has resulted in the furrows. We’re chalking it up to a lesson learned and when ours gets intolerable, our next mattress will be one without a pillow-top that can be rotated, like they were in the old days.

Good luck finding one. It's not the pillow top that doesn't allow it to be flipped. 99% of them now are only 1 sided.

So many people say their back hurts in short order after a new mattress. I think everyone equates soft to comfort and they get soft beds and that's the problem. My mattress is dang near rock hard. I just bicycled and camped for 11 days this summer on the ground on a 1 inch thick sleeping pad and the whole time I was thinking I wish my mattress at home was harder. You need support and none of these pillow top, memory foam, or soft mattresses have any support.

 

[ronandannette]

Good luck finding one. It's not the pillow top that doesn't allow it to be flipped. 99% of them now are only 1 sided.

So many people say their back hurts in short order after a new mattress. I think everyone equates soft to comfort and they get soft beds and that's the problem. My mattress is dang near rock hard. I just bicycled and camped for 11 days this summer on the ground on a 1 inch thick sleeping pad and the whole time I was thinking I wish my mattress at home was harder. You need support and none of these pillow top, memory foam, or soft mattresses have any support.

Ours does - it's an "extra-firm" with a memory foam pillow top; necessary to keep shoulders and hips from being uncomfortable on the hard'ish mattress. The support isn't the problem. The problem is the memory foam topper indented very quickly and failed to bounce back. My DH and I now each sleep in a furrow, with a ridge between us.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We really need a new mattress we just don't want to spend the money yet (we have a king-sized bed) because what we replace it with I don't want to go uber cheap.

The mattress we do have is a dual-sided one that we have turned multiple times since we've owned the mattress but it's at the point (and has been for a few years) where that no longer helps..the valleys have taken a hold of the mattress lol.

The thing I've been iffy about is looking at mattresses that you cannot at least lay on like in a store to take a feel. We see mattresses from time to time at Costco but they are never set up where you can lay on them, then there's all the online-only purchasing ones. I know many come with 'sleep on for X days' kind of thing but then I think of the hassle of getting it and returning it, etc.

My old mattress that is a full-sized had foam egg-crate style stuff that I put on it to help. I ended up putting 2 on them when the first one started getting more depressed over time and that worked at least ok but I'm not sure that really works well with the newer style mattresses.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

A cheap fix could be to buy a new memory foam mattress on Amazon for a couple hundred dollars. I love my cheap Amazon mattresses! Just looked and the Zinus brand king size mattress is about $400 right now, but that's the brand we have and I highly recommend them! I don't know why it matters what foundation you put the mattress on but they work best on a platform bed frame or their own brand of bed frame, I had one of our mattresses on a box spring and it was uncomfortable. My daughter sleeps on the 12 inch green tea mattress and it is very soft, yet supportive. It's comfortable, but I feel like I sink into it too much and I prefer a more firm mattress so I bought the 8 inch mattress for myself and it's perfect. When I was living with my ex-husband we had an expensive mattress set and it got uncomfortable about 6 months after we bought it, but my kids and I have been sleeping on these cheap mattresses for over a year and it's still the best mattress I've ever slept on! It's worth a try and if you don't like it, you're only out $400. This is the bed frame they work best on: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006MIVR06/ref=twister_B07QFSTRKH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1